Summer Nights
by Anakin
Summary: The next summer with the boys...with the addition of a new member. Adventure, romance and smokes. Could you ask for more?
1. Town's Traditions

  
Chris grew up believing he was wrong. He never had anyone to tell him he had a good heart. That he was smart. As I think back, the only flaw that Chris had was that he believed in what people thought of him. Vern, he never wanted to take a chance, and without us, he probably would have never really 'lived' as we liked to call it. That summer, he got a chance to explore himself, and although he hadn't quite come out of his shell, he was just about to. Teddy continued to be crazy, his thoughts controlling him more than ever. He always kept us entertained, and we never stopped caring about him, as much as we didn't understand exactly what he was going through.   
  
But there was a new addition to the group the next summer. Something none of us expected. A girl. We had actually let a girl into our gang. Our group. Her name was Alexia, and she ... she was different. Now that I look back, she had a little of all of us in her. She had Teddy in her, by the way of her family. Her mother was gone and her dad raised her. She grew up a tomboy, told to be tough, and when she wasn't, her dad had a system to toughen her up. She'd show up at school, in the warm weather with long sleeves to hide bruises. She never complained or came crying to any of us, even though we could see it hurt her deeply.  
  
She had a lot of Vern in her as well. She was scared of the world around her, but never scared to take a chance. She explained it as "I could die in the next hour, but I'd rather die doing something amazing and worth dying for than die walking down the street, kicking rocks while dragging my feet." The moment she said that, none of us knew what to say. I'm sure none of us fully understood it that day, but we all lived by it the rest of our lives.  
  
As for being a part of Chris, she wanted something out of life. She was sick of being her because she never understood why she was put on this planet if she wasn't worth anything. We all tried to tell her she was worth something to us, but words meant nothing. She needed actions. We all gave her our best.  
  
And like me, she had a talent. She had something, and all of us could see it, but figuring out what it was seemed impossible. She enchanted all of us. We all found ourselves caring for her, wanting to constantly protect her from everything even though we knew it was impossible...She became a part of us. A huge part that none of us will ever forget.  
  
That summer, we learned even more than we thought we could, and we didn't even know it.


	2. Skinny Dippin'

It was too damn hot, so sleeping indoor was out of the question. Vern, Teddy, Chris and I decided to meet on the West hill of Castle Rock. Alexia would try and meet us later. Her father would never allow her to stay the night with 4 teen boys and their hormones, so she told us she'd lie and tell him she was staying the night at some girls house.  
  
"You guys think Alex is gonna make it?" Vern asked, shoving a marshmallow into his mouth. "I wope swe mhakes wit." We all laughed.   
"Nice Vern, real classy." I grinned, shoving a stick into the fire we had built. "She might make it man, who knows? Her dad might not let her get out tonight." I shrugged.  
"Her fathers an asshole." Chris said. We all nodded, but no one said anything. We all knew it, there was no point in discussing it further.  
"I say, if she doesn't show up in the next half hour, we sneak into her backyard and kidnap her! Yeah!" Teddy said, throwing his fist into the triumphantly. We all groaned.  
"Teddy, even if we were stupid enough to do that, which we probably are, she has a dog. A big fucking dog. Like, one huge mother fucker of a dog. Wolf mix or some shit like that. No way am I climbing over her fence to get my ... leg ripped off." Chris said.  
"Then what are we gonna do if she doesn't come?" I asked  
"We'll have a guys night. Ya know, hanging with the boys!" Teddy said.  
"You can't have a guys night without me. It's just no fun without me. I'm the life of the party." Alexia grinned, throwing her sleeping bag at Teddy. "Miss me?" She smiled and pushed the hair that had managed to escape from her ponytail behind her ears. She shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans almost as if she were nervous.  
"We were just about to come kidnap you, Alex." Vern said, grinning widely. Alex laughed and shook her head.  
"I appreciate that. Truly." She nudged me over with her knee and sat down between Chris and me. With a sigh she got herself comfortable and stole a marshmallow out of my hand.  
  
She looked different. I mean, physically she looked basically the same. Well, maybe a little cleaner. No dirt smears across her cheeks, and her hair was neatly tied back, all shinny and smooth and I could almost smell her hair from where I was sitting. Other than that her physical appearance was the same, yet there was still something different about her. I wondered if I was the only one to see it.  
  
"What are we gonna do tonight?" She asked, plopping a piece of marshmallow in her mouth. I noticed she didn't shove the whole thing in like us guys did, but neatly tore off a piece and rested it on her tongue before brining it into her mouth.  
  
"I dunno. We didn't really plan anything. We could play cards." I said, shrugged my shoulders, already bored with the idea.  
"Nah, we do that all the time. I mean, lets do something different for once. I say, we go down to the Cantrell Creek and skinny dip. Or at least go swimming. The weathers nice enough." Alex said, placing another marshmallow into her mouth, chewing softly while grinning. We all smiles and perked up.  
"Yeah!" We all yelled at once.  
"Ah, man. Why didn't I think of that? Good thinking there, Alex. Real good." Teddy said, already up and ready to go. We put out the fire and grabbed a few of the flashlights we had brought out with us earlier.  
"You think anyone else will be out there? With how hot it is tonight." Vern asked.  
"Nah, if anything, everyone went up to the river. There's a tree you can swig off of. All the seniors hang out there." Chris said, kicking a rock along with him down the path. Teddy led the way, followed by Vern, then Chris, Alex and me. I watched as Alex walked in front of me. She had let her hair down and was now running her fingers through it to get all the kinks and tangles out. Her hair seemed darker, but I figured it was because it was dark outside and I'd never really seen her much after sundown. She walked with her head up, but not like the snot nose bitches that walked down the hallways at our school. I began to wonder why it was that I was watching Alex so much tonight. The idea that I had a crush on her past my thoughts once or twice but was quickly forgot. She was like my sister. The thought of kissing her worked my gag reflex.  
  
She did carry herself differently tonight. Maybe that's why I was so interested. To know why, exactly, was she different. I hoped in watching her, I would be the first to find out. She lowered her head and began to look down as she walked.  
  
Chris looked behind him, I'm guessing to make sure we were still there and not too far behind. The trail to Cantrell Creek wasn't a difficult one by all means, but it did get a tad rocky when you got to walking down the hill. Chris looked at me and smiled quickly. Had he noticed me looking at Alex?  
  
I was close to her now. Real close. Teddy had begun walking down the hill, finding a path for all of us to follow and Vern slowly trailed behind. Chris watched carefully, and made his way down once there was room for him. He turned around and offered his hand out to Alex. She grinned one of she lopsided grins that made her look younger than she was and took it. She hopped down and waiting for me to follow.  
  
"You guys think the water will be cold? I mean, I'm not gonna have to go retrieving my balls am I?" Vern asked, slipping slightly as he jumped off a rock and grabbed a hold of Teddy's T-shirt.  
"No. I highly, highly doubt that Vern." Alex said.  
  
Teddy had made it to the creek and was now stripping off his clothes. He stanched off his glasses and tossed em down on his clothes before running butt ass necked into the creek, yelling all the way. We all chuckled and made it down to level ground before the rest of us began taking off our clothes as well. That's when it hit me, and I'm sure it hit the other guys as well.  
  
We're about to see a girl completely naked.  
  
It wasn't our first, of course, but that was in a magazine. This was life, and she would be standing in front of us. Only, she was Alex. I don't think any of us thought of her as a girl until that very moment when her shirt was removed and all she had on was a white bra. I don't know if the other guys had to catch their jaw, because my eyes were no where near focused on them.   
  
"Fuckin-A..." I heard Chris mumble and fight to make his eyes look somewhere else. I guess Alex heard too, cause she looked up and I could almost see a blush on her cheeks in the dark.  
"Come on guys...You've seen a naked girl before. I'm no different. Well, maybe a lil worse, so stop looking at me like I've got 3 nipples." We all turned our eyes to look on something else, embarrassed.  
  
This would not be an easy night. No way in hell.  



	3. Boys Will Be Boys

Sorry it's short ya'll. it's 5 am, and I haven't slept lol The next chapter will be out soon, and it will be much longer. I promise. Until then, enjoy.  
  
The characters Teddy, Vern, Chris and Gordie all belong to Mr Stephen King, The Body and Stand By Me. Any other characters are purely sprung from my mind and you can't steal them. If you do, lucky me, I get your money!  
  
  
She looked around at all of us, her gaze landing on each of us for a moment before turning to the next. I could feel my face heat up and I just knew I was blushing. Chris cleared his throat and made a motion with his hands as if he were going to speak but stopped himself and looked down. Teddy just stood in the water, looking at all of us, probably wondering what the hold up was and when we were going to join him. Vern stood to the right of me, and I could see him out of the corner of my eye, avoiding any eye contact with Alexia.  
  
She smirked slightly at all of us, and placed her hands upon her hips.   
  
"Ok, maybe this was a bad idea. I didn't think you guys would have a fit over it." She laughed softly and began to pick up and fold her clothes. "Maybe we should just keep out underwear on. It's probably safer anyway." She placed her clothes next to a tree and grabbed a stick. We all watched her as she walked over to Teddy's scattered clothes and picked up his underwear from the ground. She held the stick a full arms length away from her and began to walk to the shore of the creek.   
  
"Teddy, here." She said, and tossed the underwear off the stick and into the water. They floated there for a moment, and Teddy made a scramble to reach them before they sank into the dark water. He stantched them up and slipped them on underwater.  
  
"Thanks Alexia, you couldn't walk out here and hand them to me like a normal good friend would?" He wiped the water off his face and stared at her.  
  
She laughed and let her feet slip into the cool water "I don't know where those things have been, or how long you've been wearing them. You're lucky I did that for you at all." She kicked her foot, sending sprinkles of water all over Teddy's head and face. We all laughed as we watched Teddy's face turn from anger to humor, and storm up to the shore. Alexia squeeked as she realized her fate, and started to run down the shore but was too slow. Teddy grabbed her around the waist, and we all cheered him on as he dragged her out into the water and threw her in.  
  
We all laughed and cheered as she struggled to pull her body out of the water and stand up. She shoved her heavy, wet hair off her face and glared at us all playfully. She ran her palms over the top over the water and grinned at me.  
  
"Ya'll coming or you just gonna watch Teddy and me have fun?" She winked and raised her fingers to her nose, plugging it before doing a back flip into the water. The remaining three of us all grinned at each other and began running towards the water, splashing and tripping.  
  
We must have spent at least 30 minutes in the water, before we all noticed something. Lights.  
  



	4. This Is Crazy!

I'm truly sorry this chapter has taken so long to get up. I had a completely mental block when it came to what this story should be, and I realized that me, being the idiot that I am, wrote it in first person. Squee! Now, if I want anything to happen between Chris and Alexia, Gordie will have to be there. That could cause some issues, yes? I'll work it out though guys, and do my best to make it all work out. Thank you for all the AWESOME feedback. It's truly appreciated it. I'll do my best to get the chapters out quicker, alright? Just don't forget to leave feedback, lemme know you're still out there!! Enjoy chapter 4  
  
  


Chapter 4  


  
  
Slowly the lights began to turn themselves on each one of us. The brightness making each one of our skins look much lighter than they actually were. We each took turns looking at each other, our eyes wide and full of excitment. Grinning, we all started to run towards to shore, splashing as softly as we could. We grabbed our clothes are made our way up the rocks, our minds telling us to ignore the pain in our bare feet.  
  
Each of us took hiding behind a tree, Vern and I hiding behind one, Chris and Alexia behind another while Teddy decided to brave one by himself. The car parked, but left the engine and lights on. A very dirty, raggidy man stepped out of the car, leaving the door open and made his way to the back of the car. When he started to open the trunk, I turned my eyes over to Alexia, finding her crouched down under Chris, resting on her knees. Chris's arm was over her, his hand resting on the tree, balancing himself, his other in the same postion, almost trapping Alexia up agaisnt the tree, but I highly doubt she cared. Her chin was rested on his forarm, her eyes clued on the man by his car. I watched her for a moment longer before turning my eyes back to the man, who had now made his way down to the shore of the creek and set his bag down beside him. I grinned to myself, pretending this was another one of the many mystery stories I've read, only I was in it. Even though nothing had actually happened, it still gave me chills up and down my spine, and I could feel the butterflys flying around in my stomach, running into each other and crashing straight down into my balls. It was great.  
  
He began to take something out of his bag, and I leaned closer agaisnt the tree to get a better look. It was a box. It looked like it could be metal, like the ones the teachers have to collect all the lunch money in the morning, or when there is a bake sale. He must have tied something around the handle, because when he threw it into the creek, he was holding onto a somewhat small rope the trailed down into the water. He tied that end of the rope to a large rock, and rolled it into the creek. Looking around, he wiped his hands on his dirty jeans and made his way back up the hill and to his car. He got in, turned around and was gone as quickly as he came.  
  
I swallowed deeply, barely aware that it tasted like I had a penny in my mouth. So what if it was nothing? It could be _something_, and I fully intended to check it out.  
  
"Guys," I whispered harshly, just loud enough so they could hear me. "Should we see what it was?" I asked. I could hear Vern's mumblings about nothing behind me, and Teddy's snickering, but no one gave me a real answer. I stood up, brushing the dirt of my knees, and grabbed my pants, shoving them over my still wet skin. Not bothers to wait for the others, I hiked across the creek, dragging my shirt along with me, holding it above the water.  
  
"Hey Gordie, whadda doin?" Chris called from behind me, and I heard what I'm guessing to be his feet splashing in the water.  
  
"I wanna see what he put in there, man!" I yelled back, not bothering to turn around, because I heard more splashing. Finally, I had made it to the other side, and I plopped myself down on my knees infront of the water. I plunged my hand into the water and searched for the thin rope, the dark water making it completely impossible for me to see in it.  
  
"Should I?" I asked Chris, who was now sitting next to me, half on land, half in the water. Alexia was across from me, sitting, her knees fully covered by water. Teddy had just made it across, and stood in the water, his hands on his knees, bending over the water, staring at it as if it were a meal and he hadn't eatin in weeks. I had finally found the rope, and pulled on it, a large rock slowly breaking it's way through the water. I tossed it on the other side of me, and held on to the rope  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Teddy cried, "Pull that sucker up!"  
  
Vern was still treading across the water when I pulled on the rope, and we all watched the water, waiting for something to break to the surface.  
  
"Come on! Hurry up!" Teddy cried, again.  
  
"I'm working on it, hold on. Geez." I yanked on the rope, and watched the water ripple.  
  
"It's comin..." Chris whispered beside me, his eyes, like Teddy's, glued to the water in front of him.  
  
"What could this guy possibly want to hide, guys?" Alexia asked, but no one answered. The metal box had finally broken it's way through the water, and now dangled in front of it, lighting up completely when the moons light hit it.  
  
"What do you think is in it?" Vern asked, breathing hard, standing over my shoulder, mouth opened wide.  
  
"Well, if he would open it, we would know, wouldn't we?" Teddy said, splashing his hand down in the water.  
  
"Idiot didn't even bother to lock it." Chris said, smirking.  
  
"I don't think he expected 5 teenagers to be watching him as he did this. I doubt he thought anyone would find it." Stated Alexia, grinning up at Chris.  
  
I popped the unlocked lock open, and slowly raised the lid, my eyes widening when I saw what was staring back at me.  
  
"Holy...Fucking-A..." Chris breathed beside me, and I could only nod in agreement.  
  
"This is crazy!"  



End file.
